Re: The Promise of Forth

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 02:05:40 -0700, Albert van der Horst wrote
(in article <jyn2lg.9f9@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>):

>> Do they get smarter? I think IQ is the ratio of what you know and the
>> problems you can solve compared to the average (or median from the
above
>> description. I don't know the definition like I should.) person your
age.
> 
> Your age, your culture, and the date of the test.
> This is the pitfall in e.g. comparing between whites and blacks in the
US.
> (Sorry, Africal Americans and Caucasuan Americans or some such).
> The tests have to be adapted all the time to keep the average at 100.
> Some effort is being done to keep down the effect of cultural
differences.

The modern tests are supposed to be culturally neutral but assume
literacy, 
which doesn't seem culturally neutral! There are some special tests
developed 
by anthropologists but I have not seen or taken one.

I once had a grueling IQ test administered by a psychiatrist as part of a 
battery of tests for a security clearance. Maybe there was more to it, but

one had to be able to read and understand rather complicated instructions
and 
situations. A typical Mensa type test is full of "which object comes next"

questions and "Bob lives next to the guy with the goldfish..." which
anyone 
should be able to do by drawing a diagram as they read.

My IQ, for what it is worth, went up most of my life then leveled off.
Since 
I have been teaching math instead of just using it. I learn more about 
misunderstanding and common and not so common mistakes as well as quickly 
spotting errors or faulty logic which then requires that I guide the
student 
out off the pit.  I have the feeling that if I took a good IQ test today I

would score higher than in the past. Does the age adjustment continually
go 
up or do we older types get a break at some point?

-- Charlie Springer